Sweat to sleep: how exercise improves your ZZZs

Sweat to Sleep: How Exercise Improves Your Sleep Quality.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of the Americans get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep – putting them at greater risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Rather than working to improve sleep habits, people tend to reach for a mid-afternoon caffeine fix or resort to sleeping aids rather than natural remedies for getting better sleep — one of which is lacing up their sneakers and hitting the gym.   

It’s a long-held belief that a more active lifestyle leads to a better night’s rest, but now there’s a science to back that claim.

Research shows exercise helps you get more sleep.

One study found that moderate aerobic exercise (e.g., walking) reduced the time it took to fall asleep and increased the length of sleep people with chronic insomnia received compared to a night in which they did not exercise.

Another theory as to why exercise helps you get more sleep is that aerobic activity triggers an increase in body temperature. At night our core body temperature naturally drops to help us fall and stay asleep. The rapid drop in body temp post-exercise may promote falling asleep.

Research also indicates the time of day you work out impacts your sleep in different ways. In a study conducted by Appalachian State University, people who exercised first thing in the morning fell asleep faster than those who didn’t work out at all or those who exercised in the afternoon or evenings. However, those who hit the gym in the evening not only slept through the night better than non-exercisers but also better than the morning gym-goers.

Just don’t work out too close to the bed. The adrenaline released during the workout can make it difficult to wind down.

Exercise improves your sleep quality.

Studies indicate that physical activity during the day stimulates longer periods of deep, slow-wave sleep where restoration, healing, and regeneration occur in the body.

A study in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity cited that men and women from ages 18-85 who got the recommended amount of moderate to vigorous activity a week (150 minutes) saw a 65% improvement in the quality of their sleep.

Exercise has also been proven to strengthen circadian rhythms, promoting daytime alertness and helping bring on sleepiness at night. Even a 30-minute sweat session can improve your sleep quality.

Exercise reduces the stress that keeps you up at night.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), seven out of ten adults in the United States say they experience stress or anxiety daily. It’s not unlikely this stress will interfere with sleep.

Sleep and stress have a complicated relationship. That’s because the detrimental effects of lack of sleep and stress are cyclical. While lack of sleep often leads to an increase in stress levels, stress is a common culprit of robbing sleep. At night, cortisol levels (aka the stress hormone) should naturally decrease. But when you’ve had a stressful day, cortisol levels stay elevated. This has an adverse effect on your sleep quality.

That’s where exercise comes in. During physical activity, your body produces endorphins - chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers and mood elevators. Endorphins greatly improve the ability to sleep, and thus reduce stress. Regular aerobic exercise has proven to decrease overall levels of tension, elevate and stabilize mood and improve sleep.

Make sure your mattress meets your physical needs.

Exercise may not have an immediate impact on sleep - it may take several weeks or months to significantly change sleep. Sleep, on the other hand, may have a very short-term effect on exercise. According to one research study, a poor night’s sleep can have a negative effect on next-day workouts.

To set yourself up for the best possible sleep every night, consider the mattress you are sleeping on. Believe it or not, your mattress can have a major impact on the quality of sleep you get and how you feel when you wake up. Sure, you pay close attention to your gym routine, what you eat, and how you stay hydrated, but you might be neglecting to treat your mattress as one of the most important performance tools in your toolbox.

If you frequently experience restless nights you believe are caused by your mattress, take a look at the support it’s providing, if it puts pressure on your joints or how it keeps your spine in alignment.

Nest Bedding offers a variety of mattresses for all types of sleepers. Make sure to find the one that suits your sleeping needs!